Countdown
by Landon Richardson
Summary: Everything can change in the space of ten seconds (McDanni, female Danni that can be counted as an OC, one shot)


Countdown

By

Landon Richardson

Official Disclaimer

**The characters of Steve McGarrett and anyone else within the story who might sound familiar do not belong to me in any shape or form, I am merely using them for my own entertainment purposes.**

**The character of Danni Williams, while based originally on the canon male Danny Williams can probably be considered my own personal character now as she has evolved so much!**

**Please note that the characters of Duncan Taylor, Grace Taylor, Nathan Williams and Emma Williams do belong to me though Grace, like Danni, was originally based on the Grace in the show before she evolved into her own character.**

Author Note

**Just a small offering for you all to start the New Year off well!**

**Enjoy and once again, thank you for all your support!**

Overall Summary

**Everything can change in the space of ten seconds (McDanni, female Danni that can be counted as an OC, one shot)**

Overall Romance

**Steve McGarrett/ Danni Richardson (McDanni)**

**Mentions of past Duncan Taylor / Danni Richardson (Dunni)**

Another note

**Please keep in mind that I don't have a Beta for this story so the odd mistake may creep in without me meaning it to. I have also never been to Hawaii so all locations are either from the show, google or made up in my own mind.**

* * *

Danni Williams stood at the window in her bedroom, an empty wine glass held forgotten in her hand as she stared out to the distance at the fireworks breaking the darkness of the night sky. She was aware of the murmur of conversation and laughter coming from downstairs from the others but felt no real inclination to join them, content to be in her own company for the first time since that morning and to continue to watch the colourful display occurring in front of her, her thoughts racing through her head.

She knew that she wasn't being a very good hostess but she was finding the evening difficult, more difficult then she could have anticipated when she had come to the decision to hold a New Year's Eve party at her house and had begun to put out the feeler about who wanted to attend it.

She blinked when she heard a light tap against the doorframe and glanced around towards it, unsurprised to see her work partner Steve McGarrett standing in the doorway, a barely concealed look of concern on his face as he watched her, making her wonder briefly how long he had been standing there, merely staring at her, probably wondering what was going on in her mind and why she was standing in a darkened room on her own, during a time when most people wanted to be around each other.

"Hey" She finally said, breaking the ongoing silence between them as she forced a smile onto her face.

"Hey yourself." He replied quietly, shifting on the spot. "Mind if I come in?"

Danni twisted around so she could see him properly, her head tilting to one side as she slowly searched his eyes, trying to remember the last time she had heard Steve ask for permission to do something rather than simply doing it with nothing more than a shrug and a smile.

She breathed out silently before lifting her hand and waving him into the room.

"Sure." She answered, turning back around to the window, listening as he moved across the room and came to a stop beside her. She glanced towards him from the corner of her eyes noticing for the first time that he was holding two filled glasses of champagne in his hands. "What brings you up here? Last time I saw you, you, Chin and Jack were talking up a storm about something." She asked him eventually when she realised that he was remaining silent, clearly waiting to see which way she would take the conversation

"That conversation ended a while ago Danni, you've been up here for about twenty minutes so I figured I'd come and check on you and make sure that everything was okay." He responded, a slight undertone of worry to his voice. "Also, I figured that you probably would want this considering the time." He added as he raised one of the glasses, a half smile curving his mouth.

She glanced down at it before she returned his smile and reached out, taking it from him and allowing him to take the empty glass from her which he placed on the surface of her chest of drawers.

"I was one my way down to join you all." She assured him. "I just saw the fireworks and got distracted by them so I figured I would watch them for a bit and take a moment to simply think, I must have lost track of time." She admitted.

"What were you thinking about exactly?" Steve asked her as he moved closer to her so she could almost feel the heat radiating out from him. She found the simple action comforting, relishing the fact that Steve seemed to always want to remain close to her while keeping his distance from others, making her feel as though she was special to him in some way.

"I was thinking about Grace, about the last year we had and everything we've gone through together, I mean if you had told me this time last year that I would be standing here in Hawaii in my own house, watching fireworks while a party went on downstairs then I'm not sure that I would have believed you." She stated on a soft laugh before she lifted the glass and took a small sip of it, a humming sound escaping her at the rich taste as she made a mental note to ask Chin Ho Kelly where he had picked the bottle up from.

"What did you do for New Year's Eve last year then? I don't think you've ever mentioned it." Steve queried, sounding curious, his eyes fixed on her face.

"Well last year I was in New Jersey with Grace and we ended up going to my eldest brother Nate's annual New Year get together which for the record never fails to be amazing. I seriously don't know how he manages it but every year seems to be better than the last one and yet he does nothing differently as far as I could tell. I think it's just him and his wife Emma that make it so special. We were all there, Duncan included, and it was great, being able to ring in the New Year surrounded by my loved ones." She told him, staring out of the window as the images from the previous year flashed through her mind bringing a sad smile to her face. "They'll all be there now." Swallowing hard she turned to look at him. "What about you? How did you end up spending New Year's Eve last year?" She queried.

"Well last year I was somewhere in a classified location doing a classified job. Truth be told I didn't even realise that it had passed midnight until an hour later." He remarked after a brief pause, the answer causing her to reach out and place her hand on his arm.

"Well hopefully this year's celebration here has been a lot better than the last one for you." She said, her smile becoming more natural when he shot her a rare grin.

"That might be the understatement of the year, this party you threw has been amazing, I bet it's on par with the one your brother has thrown." He stated.

"Yeah, I hope so, who knows maybe I'll make it a tradition here and host it every year and have a Christmas eve meal with the team as well." She said thoughtfully, thinking to the meal she had cooked for the team on Christmas Eve and how well it had gone.

"Sounds like a plan." He agreed with a nod before he changed the subject. "I guess when you think about it, this year has been a year of change for us both. I lost my Dad, left active service to join the reserves, took on the job of heading up the Governor's taskforce and settled back in Hawaii for the foreseeable future."

"And I moved from New Jersey with Grace, spent six months in hell until you swooped in and kidnapped me to the taskforce and now here, I am, here to stay for at least another year and a half" Danni added with a shake of her head. "You're right when you say it's been a year of change for us both."

"Do you regret it?" Steve asked, reaching up with his free hand and covering her hand which she realised in surprise was still resting on his arm. "Making that change?"

"Well I didn't really have a choice about it unless I wanted to lose full custody of Grace and yes, in those first six months of being here when I was still in HPD, I did regret it everyday and spent the majority of my time trying to work out a way of convincing Duncan to let us go back to New Jersey but since joining the taskforce…" Her voice trailed off as she gave it some thought before she looked back up at him. "Not so much anymore, it's been so much better since then."

"So, what you're saying is that you don't actually regret me swooping in and kidnapping you though for the record I wouldn't say that I actually kidnapped you." Steve pointed out, rolling his eyes at her when she simply gave him a long, disbelieving stare.

"What about you though? Do you regret staying here and running the taskforce?" She couldn't help but ask him.

"No" Steve said with a shake of his head. "Though I wish the circumstances which brought me here were different and that my Dad was still here with me but the answer is no, I don't regret entering the reserves and running the taskforce. My Aunt used to always say that things happen for a reason and that people come into your life at the right time when you need them. If I work by that philosophy then I'm where I'm meant to be and that you and I were meant to meet in my Dad's garage on the day we did."

"I never thought that I would hear something like that from you." Danni said in surprise, continuing to speak when his eyes flickered away from her to stare out of the window. "But I like to think that you're right and that I was meant to be here in Hawaii when you came home so we could meet."

Steve opened his mouth as though he was about to say something when he stopped, tilting his head to the side as the loud sound of their friends and Ohana counting down from ten came up through the still open door.

"Looks like it's time." Steve said, holding up his glass and grinning at her. "Happy new year Danno, here's to the next one and all the trouble we get into."

"You mean all the trouble you get into and which I pull you out of." She corrected with a laugh. "Happy new year Steve." She clinked her glass against his and took another sip of the champagne, glancing towards the door knowing that she needed to head downstairs to the others. She blinked when she felt Steve cup her face, tilting it back towards him. Her eyes widened as he scanned her face with an unreadable look before he leaned in, brushing a soft chaste kiss against her mouth, the simple action making her shiver, her eyes drifting shut for a second before she forced them back open as he leaned back slightly, still enough to her that she could count his long lashes if she wanted to.

"I can't wait to see what trouble we get in together." He murmured, before letting his hand fall from her face and taking a step back, sipping at his drink and turning to the door just as Grace hurtled in.

"HAPPY NEW YEAR MAMMA, HAPPY NEW YEAR STEVIE." She yelled, running towards Danni with a massive grin on her face indicating to Danni that her daughter had eaten far too much sugar that evening.

She leaned over, catching Grace in her arms and hugged her tightly.

"Happy New Year Gracie." She murmured, pressing a lingering kiss on the top of the young girl's head.

"This year is going to be the best year Mamma; I just know it will" Grace stated confidently, her voice muffled from where she had her face pressed up against Danni's neck.

Danni tilted her head, looking towards Steve who was watching the scene play out with a grin on his face. She swallowed, her lips still tingling from his kiss before she nodded, leaning back so she could look down into Grace's happy face.

"I think you're right Gracie, I think this year might turn out to be a very interesting year after all"

* * *

Author Note

**Thanks for taking the time to read. An especially big thank you if you have left me a review, favourite the story or decided to follow it. **

**I really appreciate it**


End file.
